How David Earns $120 A Week Doing Consumer Surveys For Big Brands
David Gama • Published March 16th, 2024
ABOUT
David Gama
Consumer Surveys
From Atlanta, CA
Side Hustle Started Jan, 2021
Full-Time Job
SDR, Software Sales
Sage Intacct
SIDE-HUSTLE STATS
3
Hours Worked Per Week
$480
Revenue Per Month
1
Founders
0
Employees
$0
Startup Cost
1
Months Before Profit
Main Growth Strategy
100%
Net Profit Margin
Table Of Contents
Working In Software Sales and Doing Consumer Surveys
Coming Up With The Idea
Where did you hear about consumer surveys as a side hustle?
I got into consumer surveys through my roommate, his name is Ricardo.
He’s been doing them for a while, and we really got into it because they pay you in gift cards. When we would go out to have some fun, he would have a card, a physical card, and he wasn’t spending money. He started explaining that he had been doing surveys, and it doesn’t take that long. That made me think—I’d much rather go spend my time and get that money, and on the weekend when I’m splurging a hundred bucks, it doesn’t make me feel guilty.
If I want to go splurge on some nice shoes, you know, some Adidas Ultraboosts, or whatever, those are 200 bucks, right? I’m not going to spend my $200, but if I have $200 worth of gift card money, you know, why not? It’s a really cool side hustle where you can get all these little gift cards.
How Many Surveys Do You Do?
How many surveys do you do a week?
I try to do two per week. So, like, eight surveys per month. And depending on how long you’re taking the survey, they’re going to pay you. There are a lot of different companies out there that do it.
I’m actually curious to know about San Diego, California, because I’m going there pretty soon because I want to continue this side hustle. I don’t want to give up this money so I can treat myself to some nice things.
Getting Paid
Do you always get paid in gift cards? Can you choose to get paid in cash?
They don’t pay in cash. But the gift card option could be a Visa gift card, and you can use it like cash. So if you get paid $50, they send you an email to a marketplace, and you’re allowed to choose from the marketplace. So they’ll offer big-time players like Amazon, Cabela’s, Adidas, etc.Then they have a Visa gift card that you can just transfer your funds to.
At the end of the day, because you are a consumer, they want you to continue being a consumer, right? They don’t want to just pay you so you can go put it on some real estate or something.
Online vs. In Person Surveys
Are these surveys online or in-person?
I have never been up to date with the other online websites.
For my surveys, some are online and most of them are in person. So I’ll break it down to you like this. The survey companies have their own portal. On the portal the sponsors are going to say they have some type of taste test or case study, right? And you have to qualify.
So the sponsor is giving you a range of qualifications. For example, maybe one study is only going to focus on participants 18 years old or younger, 60 years old or older, or something in between. Or maybe they’re looking for more Hispanics or white people or black people, right? So you do have to qualify.
But to your point, I have done some online ones, mostly during Covid. But I went from online to case studies. A case study is going to be a small group of people. I recently did one and it was six of us, and was about 90 minutes long. You just talk about their product so those are really fun. Or you have smaller case studies where it’s a taste test. They’ll give you this product, either a beverage or food, and those are in between 30 minutes to an hour in-person.
Which Surveys Pay The Most?
Do in-person surveys pay more than online surveys in your experience?
It’s pretty consistent with how long the survey is going to be. I will say, for Curion, their taste tests are nicer. They have better food, but they don’t pay as much for an hour study.
Curion might pay, like, $40 for an hour compared to Jackson And Associates who might give you $60 for an hour. I’m not going to say the quality is bad, it’s not as consistent I would say.
Finding Legit Survey Companies
How do you find reputable companies to take surveys?
People can go find reputable companies on LinkedIn. They’re under market research companies as the tag.
Since I’m visiting San Diego soon, I’m going to go look for a brick and mortar survey company, or in Idaho when I go visit my family to continue doing this. I’m pretty sure each state, and each city, is going to have this. So that’s a start.
I’ve searched consumer surveys before online and nothing shows up in my area, but if I search market research facilities, then they do show up.
Survey Qualifications
Is it easy to qualify for surveys? How often do you not meet the requirements?
That’s a great question. From my perspective, I’m Hispanic and I really don’t see many Hispanics go to these surveys.
Maybe I get a lot because for me, I can’t keep up with the flow. Every time I go back to the website and look at their surveys, I can consistently hit two a week. I could do more if I wanted to, right?
There is a caveat where, at least with these two companies, after you sign up for a survey, they don’t let you sign up for another one until you complete that survey. So being ahead of the game really does help. So if I complete one on Monday, I’m going to get back on the website that same day to get something else for Wednesday or Friday.
Earnings + Time Investment
On average, how much do you earn from your side-hustle each month?
Just going by hours, if I do two surveys per week and each survey takes 60 to 90 minutes, I’m spending about 3 hours a week taking surveys.
For two surveys, you’re probably going to bring in close to $100 to $120 a week.How Fast Do You Get Paid?
How quickly do you get paid after taking surveys?
It pays every two business days.
Your Highest Paying Survey
What’s the highest paying survey you’ve done? How much did you earn?
My roommate, Ricardo, is doing a four day survey right now. It’s the same time each day. I don’t know what they’re talking about or what they’re doing, but he said it’s going to pay out about like $250 for the four days. I think he’s only only spending 30 or 45 minutes a day.
But my last case study paid $125 for 90 minutes.
When you can do a case study and get them back to back to back, they’re going to give you a big lump sum.
Who Should Do This?
Do you recommend surveys as a side hustle for others?
Why should people do this? For one, you spend the gift cards on things and do not have to spend your own money on them. Second, taste tests usually feed you lunch, right? So that’s minimizing a meal. Three, it’s exciting. You have to sign a waiver, and you can’t talk about their products. But there’s some cool products where you’re just like, oh, I really hope this comes to market, and I hope my opinion matters here, right? If not, then whatever.
Down the line, you can talk about how you tried a food item that never came to fruition. But at least I was part of that, right?
I think this is a really good gig for anybody, but mostly for somebody who has flexible schedules, right? Or college students. They do look for kids who are under 18 as well. If I knew about this when I was in high school, I would be on top of it every day.
Other Side Hustles That Worked
Is this your first side hustle?
This hasn’t been my first side hustle. I’ve always kind of had a side hustle.
So let’s go back. When I did Uber, I made Uber my full time gig because it was just paying so well. Like, back then in Atlanta, something was wrong with their algorithm. And I figured out that if I could get airport rides consistently, I could work five hours and pull in $250 to $300.
Also, during COVID, I flipped PlayStation 5s or Xboxes, things that were highly priced in the market. I don’t do it anymore, but I was making a thousand bucks a week just flipping these things. Then I came to the realization that I felt guilty, so I stopped. I was just like, dang, man, I’m taking away some mom or dad’s hard earned money when it should be $500, and I’m just capitalizing on their 500 bucks. I got my fair share.